Secure Software Programming and Vulnerability Analysis

The importance of computer systems and their increasing inter-connectivity are well known today. As more software is exposed to a growing number of (often anonymous) users, the number of exploits of software vulnerabilities is rising. These vulnerabilities seriously threaten the correct functionality of software systems and people that depend on these systems.

This class introduces students to common programming errors. The aim is to understand, identify and, ultimately, to avoid such mistakes and produce more reliable, secure software. Examples are used to highlight general error classes, such as stack overflow and format string vulnerabilities. In addition, the complete software development cycle is analyzed to find ways to design more secure and more robust software. The lecture is intended for students with programming experience that want to improve their skills to implement more secure programs.

• Grades are available
• Written exam will be held on Wednesday, 23.06.04, 17.15 - 18.45 st.
• Backup class on Thursday, 03.06.04, 13.00 - 14.00 st. at Seminarraum E183-1, Treitlstr. 3, 4.Stock
• No class on Monday, 24.05.04
• No class on Monday, 26.04.04

The total points for this class are calculated as the sum of the points awarded for the talk (25 points) and the points achieved at the written exam (up to 75 points). The final grade is determined from these points using the following table.

Points	Grade
90-100	Sehr gut (1)
80-89	Gut (2)
70-79	Befriedigend (3)
50-69	Genuegend (4)
0-49	Nicht genuegend (5)

Until end of July, you can improve your grade with an oral exam. Please send me email when you want to use this options. Also, the written exams can be reviewed (Einsichtnahme) any time after sending me an email. Please note that grades will be final by end of July.

Matrikelnummer	Exam	Talk	Total Points	Grade
9027972	69	25	94	1
9825055	75	25	100	1
9925248	75	25	100	1
0025230	68	25	93	1
0025313	66	25	91	1
0025546	75	25	100	1
0027599	75	25	100	1
0125096	55	25	80	2
0225106	55	25	80	2
0225494	47	25	72	3
0225692	58	25	83	2
0225818	71	25	96	1
0326055	58	25	83	2
0327038	31	25	56	4

• Linux and Unix Security Features
• Input Validation
• Buffer Overflows
• Race Conditions
• Cryptography and Authentication
• Software Engineering Principles for Secure Code

The lecture is held blocked and will start after the Easter holidays. The course starts with a preliminary discussion on Monday, 19th April at 2p.m. sharp in HS 13 Ernst Melan. Regular classes will be held on Mondays from 2p.m. to 3p.m. and on Wednesdays from 5p.m. to 6p.m. at the same location.

What	When	Where
Preliminary Discussion	Monday, 19th April 2004, 14.00 st.	HS 13 Ernst Melan
Lectures	Monday, 14.00 - 15.00 st.	HS 13 Ernst Melan
	Wednesday, 17.00 - 18.00 st.	HS 13 Ernst Melan

• Introduction (pdf)
• Unix and TCP/IP Tutorial (pdf)
• Architecture (pdf)
• Input Validation (pdf)
• Race Conditions (pdf)
• Buffer Overflows (pdf)
• Heap Overflows and Format String Vulnerabilities (pdf)
• Testing and Auditing (pdf)
• Operations and Denial of Service (pdf)

Date	Topic	Papers	People
Wed 05.05.04	Architecture and Privilege Separation	Preventing Privilege Escalation	Szydlowski, M.
		A Secure Environment for Untrusted Helper Applications	Froihofer, L.
Wed 12.05.04	Input Validation	Chapter 3, 5, and 6 of A Survey of Prevention Techniques against SQL Injection	Stejskal, M.
		Cross Site Scripting Explained	Melbinger, S.
			Schanes, C.
Wed 19.05.04	Race Conditions	Checking for Race Conditions in File Accesses	Kittel, G.
		Chapter 1, 2, and 3 of Eraser: A Dynamic Data Race Detector for Multithreaded Programs	Koegler, M.
Wed 02.06.04	Stack Overflow	Buffer Overflows: Attacks and Defenses for the Vulnerability of the Decade	Egele, M.
		Advanced return-into-lib(c) exploits (PaX case study)	Jauernig, M.
			Maierhofer, A.
Mon 07.06.04	Heap Overflow	Advanced Doug Lea's malloc exploits	Zendel, O.
			Bulla, J.
Mon 14.05.04	Source Code Auditing	Using Programmer-Written Compiler Extensions to Catch Security Holes	Gmeiner, K.
		MOPS: an Infrastructure for Examining Security Properties of Software	Timmel, P.
Mon 21.05.04	Administration and Denial of Service	Practical Network Support for IP Traceback	Irlacher, M.
		Inferring Internet Denial-of-Service Activity	Schwarz, C.
			Strommer, M.